Q&As

Clinical Negligence: Can Damages Be Limited to Estate Assets?

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Produced in partnership with David Green of 12 King's Bench Walk
Published on: 10 June 2020

In a clinical negligence claim, can an insurer seek to argue that given the death of the defendant (a GP who was insured at the time) that damages are limited to the assets of the estate?

In general terms a policy of insurance is itself property: it vests in the Personal representatives of the policyholder upon their death (Doe d Pitt v Laming).

Therefore, unless there is some provision in the policy itself concerning the death of the insured, or unless some other condition of the policy has not been complied with, the policy is not void and

David Green
David Green

Barrister, 12 King's Bench Walk

A personal injury and employment barrister with particular interest and expertise in occupational disease, military and international claims, and in discrimination and whistleblowing cases.

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Key definition:
Negligence definition
What does Negligence mean?

Negligence is 'the omission to do something which a reasonable man, guided upon those considerations which ordinarily regulate human affairs, would do, or doing something which a prudent and reasonable man would not do' (Blythe v Birmingham Waterworks (1856) 11 Exch 781, at p 784). It is accepted that the test for breach of duty is objective, in the sense that the individual character and mental and physical features of the particular defendant are usually irrelevant.

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